How Good a Value Is the $799 iMac?

At the end of September, Apple quietly made released the least
expensive iMac ever. The new $799
iMac has a 500 MHz G3, 64 MB of RAM, a 20 GB hard drive, and a 24x
CD-ROM. The essential differences between this and the $999 model:

$799

$999

Installed RAM

64 MB

128 MB

Media drive

CD-ROM

CD-RW

Colors

indigo

indigo or snow

According to ramseeker, you can buy 64
MB of RAM for as little $10.79 shipped, raising the question: Is an
internal CD-RW drive worth an extra $189? (Don't even think about
paying Apple $50 for an extra 64 MB - you can easily install RAM all by
yourself.)

The $999 iMac doesn't include a lightning fast CD-RW drive, but a
pedestrian 8/4/24x unit, which burns CD-R at 8x, CD-RW at 4x, and reads
CDs at a maximum of 24x. Checking the dealmac archive, I
find that J&R Computer World offered
an external 8/4/32x CD-RW
drive for $99.99 plus $4.95 shipping last month. That's the closest
speed match listed recently.

If you don't need CD-RW, the $799 iMac is a bargain. If you do need
it and don't mind an external unit, the $799 iMac may still be a better
deal than the $999 model.

Although you may be able to find a slot-loading DVD-ROM drive to
install in a slot-loading iMac (I've seen them as low as $60!), my
online searches found only one source for a slot-loading CD-RW drive -
the genuine Apple mechanism selling for $199.95. If you need CD-RW and
want the convenience of an internal drive, the $999 model gives you
that along with twice the base memory and the option of snow or
indigo.

How Far Can You Go?

Let's say you have $999 to spend and don't need CD-RW - how powerful
an iMac can you put together?

Bang for the buck, the first thing I'd do is add a 512 MB DIMM,
which brings total RAM to 568 MB at an additional cost of roughly $50.
This leaves us $150 for a hard drive.

Although opinions are mixed, I've been very happy with IBM and
Quantum drives over the years, and a lot of users are very satisfied
with Maxtor (which now owns Quantum). If you find 20 GB limiting,
dealmac has recently listed the IBM
60 GB Deskstar for $137 plus shipping and the Maxtor DiamondMax Plus
60.5 GB drive for $144 plus shipping.

Conclusion

So if you're looking for a deal and don't need CD-RW, the $799 iMac
is definitely the way to go. 500 MHz is plenty of speed, and a 20 GB
hard drive should be enough for most users. It's essential that you
upgrade memory - 64 MB just doesn't cut it - and with 512 MB available
for about $50, you may as well get a half-gig memory module.

At roughly $850, that's a lot more computer than the $999 iMac with
128 MB of RAM. And if you've got $1,000 to spend, you should have no
trouble finding a nice 60 GB hard drive to replace the stock 20 GB
drive if you feel that's important.

Looking at the value equation, the cost of memory, the cost of
external CD-RW drives, and the going rate for internal CD-RW drives
(alas, not slot-loading at this time), the price difference between
these two iMacs should be on the order of $120. At $200 less, the new
iMac is a much better value than the $999 CD-RW model.

In fact, the $799 iMac is such a good value that it could further
drop the price of used iMac, which typically range from $575 on up.

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Welcome Image and Text

We believe in the long term value of Apple hardware. You should be able to use your Apple gear as long as it helps you remain productive and meets your needs, upgrading only as necessary. We want to help maximize the life of your Apple gear.